Presto

PRESTO-TIMES
November 19, 1927
in their national organizations will have the
accompanying effect of increasing interest and
membership in the state associations.
The American Music Trade Weeklj
Published Every Saturday at 417 South Dearborn
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
PRESTO P U B L I S H I N G CO., Publishers.
Editor
F R A N K D. A B B O T T
- - - - - - - - -
(C. A. DAN I ELL—1304-1927.)
J. FERGUS O'RYAN
- - - - -
Managing Editor
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 0234.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Com-
mercial Cable Co.'s Code), "PRESTO," Chicago.
Entered as second-class matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the
Post Office, Chicago, 111., under Act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1.25; Foreign, $4.
Payable in advance. No extra charge in United States
possessions, Cuba and Mexico. Rates for advertising on
application.
Items of news and other matter are solicited and if of
general interest to the music trade will be paid for at
space rates. Usually piano merchants or salesmen in the
smaller cities are the best occasional correspondents, and
their assistance is invited.
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torial or news columns of Presto-Times.
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tion will be charged if of commercial character or other
than strictly news interest.
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quested that their subjects and senders be carefully indi-
cated.
Forms close at noon on Thursday. Late news matter
should be in not later than 11 o'clock on that day. Ad-
vertising copy should be in hand before Tuesday, 5 p. m.,
to insure preferred position. Full page display copy
should be in hand by Tuesday noon preceding publication
day. Want advertisements for current week, to insure
classification, should be in by Wednesday noon.
Address all communications for the editorial or business
departments to PRESTO PUBLISHING CO., 417 South
Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1927.
pianos and the character for fair dealing of
the retailer; in the selling strength of pianos
built up to a standard not down to a price and
the efficacy of an active and well directed sales
staff.
POOR TEACHING AIDS
That the truths were conveyed in a page
Nothing holds the disgusted gaze of the advertisement of The Cable Company in
average piano man more fixedly today than to last week's Presto-Times increased their
see some talented teacher of music attempting value for many because the advantages
to teach piano lessons to a promising pupil on of the company's own co-operative methods
a w r orn-out instrument.
of increasing sales were set forth. They in-
Imagine asking an A-l stenographer and volved schemes of practical piano sale promo-
typist to use rattle-trap equipment; imagine tion for which the trade is eager today.
ordering a veteran engineer to climb into a
rusty engine for his run; imagine asking Lind-
It is possible the resale price protection bill
bergh to jump into an unsafe plane and leave
to be introduced in Congress next month by
the ground in it—and there you have three
Senator Capper of Kansas, and Representative
comparisons.
Kelly of Pennsylvania, will have strong sup-
It is positively painful to a music teacher to port from all parts of the country. All the
ruin the child's senses of both hearing and consumer organizations, which have officially
touch by using defective mechanism w r hen declared themselves on this question, have
there are so many almost perfect instruments favored this proposition. The average Amer-
to be had for so little money and on such easy ican business man has reached such a stage of
terms of payment.
puzzlement and exasperation in regard to his
Mme. F. Kurth-Sieber, a distinguished music legal rights in protecting hij- trademark and
teacher of New York City, is the latest to raise advertising good will, that the demand upon
a declaration against the worn-out instrument Congress to do something at its next session
as a means of producing music. They are "de- has become almost irresistible. Those who
structive to progress," she says. Her letter to have believed that relief from this situation
Secretary McClellan of the National Associ- might come from the courts, and that legal in-
ation of Piano Tuners, Inc., appears elsewhere terpretation of present statutes would work
in this issue.
out the problem, have met so man v disappoint-
LOUD SPEAKER PUBLICITY
Portland, Ore., music dealers have been
vainly protesting against the rigorous clauses
of a city ordinance passed in June, 1917, which
includes a lot of thou-shalt-nots that minimize
joy in music and consequently interfere with
the freer sale of musical instruments. The
ordinance forbids the use of loud speakers as
allurements to music stores and at intervals
the police have suppressed the devices and
summoned the owners to court to answer to
charges of "criminal purpose to disturb the
peace."
Now, in self-defense, a substitute ordinance
is submitted by the joint body of music dealers.
TRIPLE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
The triple membership drive which is de- This is considered an admirable middle ground
signed to augment the numbers in the National favorable to the music trade and to the Port-
Association of Music Merchants, the National land Owners and Building Managers Associa-
Piano Travelers' Association and various state tion which sponsored the existing ordinance.
associations, has a purposeful appearance that Before 10 o'clock a. m. and after 8 o'clock p.
promises big results. The travelers have al- m., the substitute ordinance would hush the
ways been active in inducing indifferent deal- sidewalk loud speaker. But it is said there is
ers to join their state and national organiza- not enough support for it in the council.
tions,and the forcefulness of their plans is well
attested by the results. Apart from the urge
COOPERATIVE SELLING
of valuable prizes for recruiting work by trav-
The Cable Company, Chicago, prints a stand-
elers, the roadmen will continue to influence
ard of satisfactory advertising service which is
dealers to join their state association and the
interesting to advertising men and to music
national body. Strange as it may sound, there
dealers whose interest in publicity extends to
are still several thousand music merchants
analysis. It deals, of course, with co-opera-
who have never joined their fellows in the or-
tive advertising and merchandising plans and
ganizations and quite a large number of men
discusses their potency to promote sales for
who have lapsed through indifference to asso-
the party of the second part—the dealer.
ciation purposes.
In this well-thought-out presentation of an
The way in which the music dealers may re- important retail situation, selling plans are
turn the favor of the travelers is suggested in said to be as valuable as they are practical;
the announcement of the triple drive. It is their worth to the dealer is their ability to
pointed out that not every traveler is a mem- develop profitable business. A co-operative
ber in good standing of the National Piano advertising scheme may be spectacular and
Travelers' Association. And the music mer- still the results in sales may be insufficient
chants are asked to reciprocate and urge every rewards for the endeavor.
traveler who is remiss in his duty to his fel- The co-operative factor, it is pointed out, is
lows, to wake up.
in evidence where the national prestige of the
There is no doubt but that the efforts of the piano manufacturer matches the local reputa-
travelers and dealers to augment membership tion of the dealer; in the high quality of the
The last form of Presto-Times goes to press
at 11 a. m. Thursday. Any news transpiring
after that hour cannot be expected in the cur-
rent issue. Nothing received at the office that
is not strictly news of importance can have
attention after 9 a. m. on Thursday. If they
concern the interests of manufacturers or
dealers such items will appear the week follow-
ing. Copy for advertising designed for the
current issue must reach the office not later
than Wednesday noon of each week.
ments that they now realize that a Federal
statute is the only solution.
The first adequate basis for a comparison of
the spending habits of American cities is af-
forded by the completion of the governmental
distribution censuses, submitted by the Cham-
ber of Commerce of the United States, as ac-
curate statistical pictures of the flow of com-
modities in three typical American cities—•
Baltimore, Denver and Syracuse. These show,
among other things, strikingly large expendi-
tures, in Syracuse and Denver for automobiles
and gasoline, compared with Baltimore.
For the three cities the larger portion of
the retail dollar goes for four classes of mer-
chandise — food products, clothing, automo-
biles and house furnishings. In Denver, sales
of musical instruments and radio equipment
were higher than in the other two cities.
* * *
The thrilling story of Mr. Arthur Wessell's
recent experiences in the flooded New England
region, told elsewhere, naturally directs at-
tention to the romance of big deals by Wes-
sell, Nickel & Gross. How the vast maple
holdings were acquired and the equipment of
the logging camp and mill completed to pro-
vide for all contingencies of supply and de-
mand, makes interesting reading. The cir-
cumstances of the discovery of the Barton lo-
cation and its development are full of action
characteristic of the principals in the great
piano action house.
* * *
The growth of interest in music may be
gauged by the number of communities inter-
ested in Music Week this year, compared to
1924. The.number of 1,614 communities par-
ticipating in the event this year was double
that of 1924.
* * *
Now that Belgium and France have allotted
special days for celebrating the musical joys
of the accordion, the British are asking why
England does not declare a national fete in
honor of the English concertina.
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